SLAP SHOT; Flyers Sign Rangers' Fedotenko

By DAVE CALDWELL

Published: July 6, 2012

The Philadelphia Flyers, one of the contenders who lost out to the Minnesota Wild in the pursuit of the free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, stocked the bottom of their roster Thursday by signing the Rangers forward Ruslan Fedotenko and the Tampa Bay defenseman Bruno Gervais.

The Flyers, who lost defenseman Matt Carle to Tampa Bay and the veteran forward Jaromir Jagr to Dallas this week, were reported to have paid Fedotenko, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, $1.75 million for one season and Gervais, a former Islander, $1.65 million for two years.

With Parise, a forward, and Suter, a defenseman, each agreeing to 13-year, $98 million contracts with Minnesota on Wednesday, the focus of the top teams swung to Columbus forward Rick Nash, who is under contract but has been made available by the Blue Jackets. The Rangers are among the teams reported to be interested in Nash, 28, who has 289 goals in nine seasons in Columbus but who has played in just four playoff games, all losses. Nash is to be paid $7.8 million for each of the next six seasons.

The Devils do not seem to be interested in Nash, but they could pursue Anaheim forward Bobby Ryan, a big, 25-year-old right wing who grew up in New Jersey and scored 31 goals last season, the same as Parise. The Flyers offered Parise and Suter similar 12-year deals for $100 million, then moved onto what Philadelphia General Manager Paul Holmgren called ''our next phase.'' after both chose Minnesota.

''We took our shot,'' Holmgren said in a conference call Thursday. ''They're both elite players in our game. We're not the only team that took shots, and whether we had a chance or not, I don't know.''

Fedotenko, a sturdy, 33-year-old left wing from Ukraine, scored 19 goals in 139 regular-season games for the Rangers in the last two seasons. He scored two goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs, both in the six-game loss to the Devils in the Eastern Conference finals. Fedotenko played his first two seasons for the Flyers, scoring 33 regular-season goals, before he was traded to Tampa Bay. He helped the Lightning, then coached by John Tortorella, win the Stanley Cup in 2004. Fedotenko won a second Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009.

Gervais, 27, played for the Islanders for six seasons before he was traded to the Lightning last year. He scored six goals in 50 games but is minus-64 in 381 N.H.L. games and has appeared in the playoffs just once, with the Islanders in 2007. Fedotenko scored 16 goals in 67 games in his one season with the Islanders, 2007-8.

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.